Summary Report on the Tripartite (UNICEF/UNHCR/WFP) Study1 of the Great Lakes Emergency Operation

In the mission team’s view, the quantity and quality of the informal cooperation and formal coordination were generally high. A number of signed formal agreements were concluded in the form of: a)regional, country-level and local Memoranda of Understanding and operational plans; b) separate agreements on cooperation in specific sectors such as logistics and telecommunications; and c) country-level and local joint work plans.

More significant perhaps for future emergency operations was the amount of joint activity undertaken by the three agencies. Informal arrangements included, inter alia, regional and local logistics control centres with pooled resources, an arrangement for shared telecommunications connectivity and frequencies and joint use of equipment and personnel, and undertakings for common warehouse, office and other facilities. Moreover, there was a concerted effort among the three agencies, as the level of emergency activities has wound down, to build upon these experiences through the adoption of written procedures and agreements to guide the establishment of joint activities in future emergency operations.